European Union heads of state pose for a group photo in front of the Cloth Hall during an EU summit in Ypres, Belgium on June 26. / AP

by Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

by Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

Leaders from the 28-country European Union are meeting in Brussels on Friday with a number of different items on the agenda.

ASSOCIATION AGREEMENTS

The bloc signed economic and political deals with non-member countries Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The deal with Ukraine is especially sensitive now as it comes at a time when a fragile cease-fire between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russia separatists is due to end. Deadly protests broke out this winter when the-then Ukrainian president decided not to sign the EU deal under intense pressure from Moscow.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Despite strong objections from British Prime Minister David Cameron, the former Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker is expected to be named as the next president of the European Commission - the EU's powerful executive body. Britain is concerned that Juncker is too much of an EU insider who favors ever-increasing political integration for the EU and is not interested in pursing a platform for reform that the U.K. considers an essential next step for the union. "He's (Juncker) not the right person to take this organization (EU) forward," Cameron said Friday.

CEASE-FIRE-SANCTIONS

Secretary of State John Kerry has said that Russia is facing the threat of new sanctions if it does not do more to pressure separatists operating in Ukraine to set aside their weapons. "We are in full agreement that it is critical for Russia to show in the next hours, literally, that they are moving to help disarm the separatists, to encourage them to disarm, to call on them to lay down their weapons and begin to become part of a legitimate political process," Kerry said on Thursday, from Paris. He has now traveled to Brussels to take up the matter with EU leaders. A week-long cease fire is due to end later Friday.

IMMIGRATION

Matteo Renzi, Italy's prime minister, issued a warning this week to his European neighbors, saying more needs to be done to address the issue of the thousands of refugees who are risking their lives to reach the continent. Renzi insists that Italy can't bear the brunt of sea rescues alone. He wants Italy's beefed-up border patrol to be incorporated in to EU-wide efforts.